The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the National Assembly to consider and pass the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill and other bills supporting affirmative action.

NHRC Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu made this known in a statement on the occasion of the 2023 International Women’s Day (IWD).

According to him, the passage of the bills will reduce gender-based violations and legally equip women to challenge the inequalities confronting them including Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) which has continued to rear its ugly head in the society.

He pointed out that it is high time the issue of gender equality and gender inclusiveness defined the way our society is governed because gender discrimination usually comes with a lot of denials.

“However, women’s prudence in resource management and developmental skills cannot be overemphasized, therefore they unarguably remain the pillars of our future, given the enabling environment and opportunity; women have the potential to turn things around to make the world great and a better place for everyone to live in,” he stated.

He said the theme of this year’s commemoration, ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality’ is very apt considering the proven capacity of women in diverse fields of life such as medicine, pharmacy, digital technology, engineering and literature just to mention a few.

“Nigerian women and other women elsewhere have on different occasions proven that they can perform excellently in drawing policies and making decisions that could turnaround the society; therefore they should be encouraged to unleash their best potentials for the development of the entire society”, the Executive Secretary added.